Kissin Cousins

Thursday night we had a fun visit from cousin Isabel at our house! Craig and Andrea came over for the night on their busy trip up north and we were so glad to see them. Francie and Isabel just love each other :) We got Emmy for the night too (MY cuz;) and Uncle Mark joined us for pizza and a low key night watching the girls live it up. They keep getting more fun to watch together everytime we see Isabel! Thanks for making the trip Uncle Craig and Aunt "De-a" :)

Does this face say it all?! Francie was afternoon-napping when they arrived and we finally went in to wake Francie up. Isabel stood at the crib and pulled the bumpers down saying "Fan-cie! Fan-cie!" and reaching in to touch her face... Francie (usually grumpy when she is woken up) pops up with a HUGE smile on her face and kisses Izza-Bizza through the crib! We threw Isabel in to play with her and Francie introduced her cuz to Pattie and Sophie who were napping with her in the crib.

They have much cousin'ly love!!

These girls are getting tall! Izza has a few inches on Francie (unless she sports her cowgirl boots of course)

It didn't take them long to find the dress up box

Uncle Mark reading to Ray Charles

They love their Uncle Mark :)

Francie showing Isabel where she goes for "Time-b Out"

You think they're hungry or something? We looked over and both girls and climbed up into the chairs and were sitting at the table talking to each other, most likely about how their parents were too busy talking and drinking beers to feed their children.

Diving deep in the dress up box for these outfits! Francie was very concerned Izza didn't have a bow :0

Too busy for our photo shoot

"Do you think we can be partners on Dancing with the Stars Fan-cie?"

Pensive Izza-Bizza (I love that face!)

Who slipped Francie a beer and her duck call?

Posing for a few short seconds (good thing Emmy was there to snap!)

"Cheese!"

Isabel being funny. Francie says "Hold?"

Awwwww... good work Em

Their fathers were appalled at these outfits :)

More love...

Wardrobe change

"Emmy seet!"

The girls of course LOVE Emmy... all kids do :)

Isabel's hilarious I'm-frustrated-but-I-love-you face

Pretty Pretty Princess Izza

Francie loving Emmy

Dad took the girls out in jackets to make sure the chickens were roosting for the night

Mom with the girls and cookies

Eventually they started to get a little tired...

Andrea snuggling with sleepy Isabel :)

Francie reading bedtime books with Emmy

"Can you sleepover all the time Emmy?"

"Don't bother me. I'm busy emailing Oma."

Sansie "sad" Izza-bizz left at the end of the night (we couldn't tell her she was going to sleep at Jannie's house!) We'll see her tomorrow for breakfast Francie...

Dad fell asleep before Francie giving her a "Milk with sauce" before bed... reading his new issue of "Huntin' Fool" and WHAT Ollie is doing on the couch I have no idea :)

While Dad Was Gone...

Heff left last Saturday at 4pm for a fishing trip up north, close to the Oregon border with his friend Ben. The stayed in Red Bluff Saturday night and then headed for the Klamath River early Sunday morning. They were on the river until 5pm Sunday and made it ALL the way home by 1am! We were glad to have him home from his 32 hour adventure. (I've been waiting to post this until I got pictures from his trip, but their guide is slow... will post updated fishy-fishy pics if we get them) While he was gone Jannie and I went to a baby shower in Walnut Creek for our good friend Laura Pavlovich who is due with a baby girl the same week I am (baby boom!?) Grampa drove us over to the East Bay and took care of Francie while we had lunch with the ladies! He was very excited for their date and did a great job... they had an adventure of their own!

They went to the Railway Museum and saw choo-choos, climbed on a caboose and saw a fire truck

Then they drove out to Mount Diablo and hiked to the top! Grampa said Francie can "hold the record" as the youngest (only?) Simonson or Heffernan to reach the top of Mt. Diablo. He took a bag of cookies and held her while they walked to the top and saw lots of doggies and a great view. We called towards the end of the shower to check in and said "You guys are WHERE!?" They made it back in time to visit with the girls and show off her party dress (I should have dressed her a little better for hiking though!) She had a run in her tights and was very upset about it :) But she loved her special time with Grampa!

Sunday night we hung out at Jannie and Grampa's while we waited for Dad to head home. Jannie was on her toes following Francie's directions... "Ja-Ja SEET!" and "Ja-Ja COME!"

Notice the size of the chair she is sitting in ;)

Stompa Stompa

The other day Dad took Francie on a walk in the rain to the park to splash in puddles and give mom some peace and quiet (thanks Heff:) Francie picked out half of her outfit... can you tell?

Red socks, purple mittens, camo "Georgia" scarf and red-plaid sunglasses...

Dad helped find the rain jacket, cozy hat and rain boots

Ready to go "Stompa Stompa" in the puddles!

and earlier that day (last Friday, I'm slow posting this week) we had lunch in Los Altos with Icie, Paige, Wes, Erika and Leo. We gave Leo and his mom Erika a ride home and Francie thought it was so funny to have her friend sitting right next to her!

"Where'd Leo go Mom!?"

Lunch at The Goose

Saturday before Heff left for his whirlwind 32 hour fishing trip to the Oregon border (yes, he is crazy) we met my good friends Tim and Ryan and their families at the Dutch Goose for burgers and beers. Tim and Ryan and I were best friends in High School... we worked the Tuesday night shift together at the Ronald McDonald House for 4 years. They taught me how to get in trouble :) Tim and his wife Catherine have two little girls and Ryan and his wife Jennie are due with a baby girl in March. We caught up after their childbirth class and gave them our two cents on the first baby drill! The little girls had fun playing together...

Francie lights up when she gets to hold a baby :)

"You're letting HER hold me!?" (cute Josephina is four months old)

Jennie and Ryan will probably have baby Sophia next time we seem them!

Tim, Cat and Josephina

Phina with her big sad eyes! (I was holding her, she wanted dad)

Chella in her pink "Santa Baby" dress

Daddy and The Doo playing Big Game Hunter... of course.

Ryan and Marcella watch the hunting duo

Heff just realized his daughter is a great excuse to play $1.00 video games at the Dutch Goose

Trapped Indoors

Francie and I have been stuck at home for a few days with colds... it was bound to catch up with us sooner or later and luckily it wasn't so bad to come down with bugs just as the cold weather and rain came down too. We've been trying to keep ourselves entertained indoors reading lots of books, playing games and finding "projects" to do. We pulled out a Crayola Fingerpaint craft Wesley gave Francie for her birthday and it was really cool! The fingerpaints are colorless vasoline-type pots that turn into bright colors when spread on the special canvas papers. It made for no mess and a lot of fun making beautiful creations :) Francie made a painting for Daddy's office and one for Jannie and Grampa's 32nd anniversary today... Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Francie watches closely as the colors appear

I helped Francie with this one... do you see "daddy" hiding in the rainbow camo? ;)

Little hands (well, not SO little! Runs in the family... I remember doing a handprint project in girl scouts and they had to make a special mold for my 2nd grade giant mitts :)

First fingerpaintings

Then we decided to get really ambitious when Dad was working from home Thursday afternoon (he got the cold bug too) and make homemade playdough. I tried a recipe using cornstarch and baking soda that you heat up. It was supposed to last longer than the old flour, salt and water recipe but it didn't work, AT ALL! I'll stick to the old standard next time :)

She kept saying "San-sie turn!" to stir and for some reason wanted to smell it

At no point did it look like this mixture would turn into something we could play with but we had fun making pretty colors anyway

Ooooooooo!

Neon food coloring makes for fun colors

Francie also wanted a "turn" using my camera apparently and must have pushed the shutter button 23 times while my camera was on the side table (which I didn't realize until I downloaded the pics off my camera) It's actually a fun picture from her perspective since that's about her height right now!

Thursday night we went out to Buca di Beppo's in Palo Alto with Jannie & John (and Emmy too!) to celebrate their anniversary.

Daddy and Grampa (who is still being called 'Bam-pa' by that little Doo, we'll see which sticks ;)

Francie got to wear Emmy's pretty necklace. She LOVES Emmy!

and she helped Jannie pass out the dessert plates for
Red Velvet "Celebration Cake"

Jannie lets Francie make a big mess of her cake and frosting...

and spoils her with kisses! (nice bunny ears HEFF!)

Francie insisted on taking off her sweater. Then pants. Then shoes. Then socks. and then climbing over the booth like it was a jungle gym... she is a nut! It was a nice dinner out to forget we were sickies :)

Francie's Doll-Dolls

Francie LOVES her baby dolls more and more everyday. We now have to take "Pattie" the Cabbage Patch Doll everywhere we go along with her little stuffed animal doggie "Sophie". She got Sophie for her birthday and Pattie for Christmas so at least we are 2 for 2 :) She holds her tight in her carseat and drags her around behind her. When we are home she hides her dolls under her crib and plays with them in their little fort, makes beds for them, rocks them and tries to feed them. Here is a little video clip where she introduces you to Pattie and Kelly (my first doll a Madame Alexander "Huggums" I got when I was 1 and loved so much her her face is totally pale and her hair is struggling although Jannie gave her a conditioning treatment to fix her up a little!), Bath-Doll and Doll-doll (Baby-Doll didn't make the cut)

She likes to wrap her dolls up in our baby "cozy"...

...and tries her hardest to carry them around the house

Sometimes she gets in and hides too ;) (She just barely still fits in this!)

BARELY!

She orders Ollie around like one of her dolls...

And she wears them in the Snugli... with a little help from Mom.

I wonder where she got that from?! (circa 1982;)

Francie loves her dollies :)

Hopefully she will love her REAL baby doll just as much! (My first and only "belly shot" at almost 29 weeks... and yes I cut bangs. Thanks for the deliberation and vote Kerri and ABA!)

More Fun with the Bride

Monday we went up to San Francisco with Oma, Jannie and Ant Kat for her appointment at the Bridal Galleria (where I got my dress three years ago on the same Monique Lhuillier trunk show weekend in January!) Aunt Kat tried on lots of beautiful dresses and we had fun being a part of it. After shopping we celebrated with lunch at Kokkari... Francie felt very fancy out and about in the city and how often is it a girl gets to go out with her mom, god-mother and BOTH grandmas!?

Francie loves greek food

Jose the bus-boy intercepted Francie making a run for it and told her he'd go get her a cookie (ABA IM'ed me a little concerned after seeing this photo in my picasa album before I had a chance to explain;)

CONGRATS on finding a dress AUNT KAT!!

Family Sunday

I love that little face! Sunday we finally knocked off the "mall trip" on our to do list for a bookshelf at Pottery Barn we realized we needed when we moved things around for our Christmas tree. Stanford Shopping Center is not my husband's favorite place to spend much time but he sucked it up and we hit the mall Sunday around lunchtime. Francie brought her "wallet" with some pennies to throw in the frog fountain and we made a pretty painless, quick trip of it.

Francie at the fountain

She came prepared for throwing wishes

More pennies from Dad (he said "no silver stuff France... we're in a recession.":)

She loves her PINK boots from Jen!!

I ran into Bloomie's for a Bobbi Brown staple I was out of (which doesn't count in our "no buying anything for 3 months"... it's a necessity and a consumable! and PS we had a gift card for the PB purchase so haven't broken the rules yet ;) So I come around the corner to meet Heff and Francie in the PB loading zone and see:

Looking around until she sees mom...

What a lucky mom I am :)

Home unpacking the bookshelf... no better toy than a cardboard "Not-A-Box!"

Then on Sunday afternoon Claire and Kat came down for a little wedding dress shopping! Kat's wedding is planned for July 18 in Red Bluff and we could not be more excited for her and Donald. Six months to plan (same time frame as Heff and I) means dress must be ordered soon! Of course I can't show pictures of the beautiful-bride-to-be Aunt Kat in a wedding dress but here are a few of her mini-me Francie twirling on the mirrored playtforms.

Oma and Aunt Sarah checking out the options (Jannie was happy to be included too.. she was too busy chasing Francie in and out of dresses to snap a picture)

and Francie had to try on veils too...

Sunday night we had a big family dinner at our house (duck. duh. ;) with Oma, Aunt Kat, Uncle Mark & Aunt Sarah, Uncle James & Auntie Em, Jannie & Grampa. It's always fun to have parents and siblings from both sides of our families together for a mellow evening. Francie is SO spoiled with all those relatives and she sure knows how to work the crowd. "Oma, Oma SEET!" was uttered about a hundred times in two days and she had everyone reading to her, playing with her dolls, dressing up and counting while she hides. Lucky little Doo. It was a fun dinner with everyone and the duck tasted great, Francie gobbled it up.

Even if you were grossed out by my offensive dead duck pictures you have to admit they look yummy all "dressed up" for dinner!

Uncle James and Auntie Em. Francie has been a little hesitant to jump into her god-fathers arms but she was all over "Ja-mes" Sunday night!

Playing dress up with Aunt Sarah

Cornering Grampa to play in her room and put the socks and shoes she picked out on. I think she was just sucking up to "Shoes-should-only-be-taken-off-for-bed-and-bathing-Grampa" :)

Auntie Em reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear

A busy dinner table with Simos and Heffs! Thanks for coming over aunts, uncles and grandparents :)

Saturday with Friends

Saturday we brought the bounce house out of hibernation and the neighbors came out of the woodwork! I love living in our "dorm" where there is always something going on or someone to play with on the street. Francie and I walked over to invite Alexa (3) to bounce and then Zach (3) and his parents who were walking to the park came over, Alexa's parents Ben & Sanrda came with beers (O'Douls for Sandra due in 3 weeks!) and then Emma & Owen couldn't get in the bounce house fast enough when hey got home with their parents Miles & Chrissie. We all threw the kids around and enjoyed the warm weather while Heff cleaned ducks in the driveway :)

Francie cracking up with Emma

Alexa ready to be a big sister with her big girl haircut

Zach with his Dad Brandon and Mom Angie due in 2 weeks. There are going to be babies everywhere!

Francie was worried about Ollie who we locked inside for the bouncers

Emma and Owie! Crashing down the slide and happy happy kids :)

Alexa got to spin upside-down with her dad while her mom was on a quick beer run :) (sorry to sell you out Ben ;)

Zach's turn... look how high he goes! Only one near miss on the "catch" ;)

Dad working hard to clean those ducks up to his "MIL's" standards!

Francie found Owen's boots on the sidelines :)

When the bounce house party died down we had Chad, Lindsey and Isaac over for dinner (another pregnant mom due next month. It was an expectant moms club at our house Saturday :)

Isaac didn't feel so hot but he was a trooper!

Dad and Francie (in her "fav" COW pj's, thanks Aunt Kat!) saying bye-bye to Isaac at the end of the night. Thanks for coming over Hutchinsons!

Quack, Quack... BANG, BANG!

... and that's double-fisting! As promised, more offensive duck pictures :) Saturday morning (if you can even call 3:30AM morning!?) Heff left his girls sleeping to meet his friend Gus in Los Banos at his duck club. It was the first time he has been out this season and had a great hunt in the blinds shooting limits and bringing home a load of ducks. Francie and I hung around at home in our "juicy's" (BTW she asked to put her doll in "juicys" when we got home tonight, I am pathetic!) waiting for Dad to get home at lunch time. She kept asking where Dad was so I showed her some duck hunting videos on YouTube... that's normal right? So when she saw Dad's truck in the driveway she ran outside saying "BANG BANG!" and "EAT DEM!" (sorry PETA) We played with the ducks for awhile before Daddy got a few beers and started plucking. We saved them for Sunday night for a big duck dinner with Claire and Aunt Kat down from Red Bluff, Mark & Sarah, Jannie & Grampa, and James & Em. They were DELICIOUS!

Heff at the duck blind... not a bad picture from his new google phone ;)

When Dad got home Francie wanted to "pet" the duckies...

and "hod" the duckies...

and "kiss" the duckies. (ok, even I put my camera down to stop her from kissing the duck... more than once;)

Owen came over to see what all the commotion was about. Luckily he already had his favorite Red Bluff cowboy boots on.

Awwwww.... (or Ewwwwww?)

I just love this picture of my daughter :)

Trying to lift 14 dead ducks with 15 month old arms

Good hunter-gatherer skills Heff!

Mom got a turn too... I didn't partake in the cleaning this year though, blame the pregnancy ;)

She's so proud of her Daddy :)

That's My Girl

Guess who's having duck for dinner?!

LOTS more obnoxious and offensive pictures to follow :)

Francie's End of the Week Activities

Thursday Francie had her second gymnastics class and couldn't get enough of it. Jannie came too and got to play under the parachute and hold Francie's hand on the balance beams and the bouncy trampolines!

We went to lunch at Stacks with Estelle & Icie after gymnastics...

and covered ourselves in strawberry jelly.

Then Francie went over to Jannie's to play for awhile while Kelly was visiting for the day. She got a bath in Jannie's big bathtub and a new outfit of course and Jannie, Francie and Kelly made a post-season Gingerbread House :)

Jannie had her dressed in a new "U of A" cheerleading outfit she ordered online. It didn't come in time for the Stanford/Arizona game but it should fit her for awhile... right now the bare-naked tummy look is still covered ;)

Francie was cranky when we got home and wanted to go back to "Ja-Ja's"

Meltdown mode... I'm still snapping pictures.

All better now that Daddy made her some "Milk-sauce"

Giant feet lounging with her milk cup

Tired baby girl with Mom

BUSTED. Mom cringing from an onslaught of slobber kisses ;)

Heff found a late Christmas present in the mail Thursday night he was pretty excited about... Really Mike? "Huntin' Fool?" Who writes this stuff?

*************************************

Then on Friday we had a breakthrough... Francie decided she would start smiling for my camera again!

She thought it was hilarious to play in our rocks and throw them at Ollie. I was laughing at her giggling and didn't notice the dog tore out a hedge in the process! oops.

Yes, she has a pink shoe and a brown shoe on. She insisted. (I overruled to leave the house since they were completely different sizes and she kept tripping)

After we lounged around the house all morning we picked Jannie up for lunch and ran into Francie's friend Jasmine and her mom Parvin at Plutos! After lunch Francie went over to Jannie's for another playdate while I had to go to the lab at Stanford for the infamous glucose screening test (drink orange sugar Jolt and sit for an hour until they take blood... fun fun) Francie and Jannie were busy as usual...

They made adorable mini-cookies for a tea party with "Pattie"!

There's not much better than an afternoon Milk-and-warm-cookies snack

Jannie taught her to drink from a big girl cup

Jannie and I even had tea in the little Peter Rabbit mugs Jannie dug up somewhere

That's a happy Francie

I'm even getting "Cheese!" for the camera!

I think the bribe of "I'll show you San-cie's picture on the screen after you smile!!" is working :)

In her ABA's dress... short enough to climb on everything without tripping but won't fit for long!

Springtime in January

Wednesday was another unseasonably warm day around here, I kinda want the rainy weather back but decided to enjoy it while it lasts and put Francie in a sundress she never wore and won't fit into next year (my addiction is unstoppable... well maybe 'pause-able' only during our annual three month hold on buying anything new, I've made it 16 days so far!) We had lunch at Cafe Baronne's with Jannie and our good friend Joanie Huck who lives in Coronado. After lunch we went to say hi to Dad at the office and Francie played with Jannie for the afternoon getting whatever she wanted whenever she wanted :)

Ready for lunch in my dress, tights and sparkly pink Suri shoes! (she is seriously in love with these shoes and makes sure everyone she sees notices them... "shoes!?")

Someday soon I'll get ONE picture of Francie looking at the camera without the fierce eyebrows and cranky face! I still have hope.

What is hiding under there?..... I love ruffle-bum tights :)

Looking through the crack in the gate for Jannie's car to arrive

"Want me to get the mail mom?"

"No problem."

Then last night we all went to a dinner at Nola's in Palo Alto to kick off the 23andMe "Mom Bloggers" event. My husband was a very good sport in a room full of women (bloggers from across the country) talking about blogging, genetics and pregnancy. But luckily there was another husband in the room he sat next to for a little reprieve. Francie enjoyed her cajun dinner and only tried to escape Dad's arms a few times. It was a fun night out with an interesting group of people...

Daddy and Francie-doo

Mare and Anne

"Don't worry Mom, I checked with the Consumer Product Safety Commission... these beads are organic, lead-and-melamine-free." ;)

Hiding from Mom and the un-happy little baby girl next to her

All worn out snuggling on the couch with Dad

"I heard that click!"

A Day of Playdates

Tuesday we had a full day of playdates :) Francie and I went over to Rose and Lena's house for lunch and lots of playtime with all of Rose's fun toys, it was such a nice day out, we played outside and enjoyed the sun too. Then since we were in the neighborhood we went over to Jannie's house to play with Sophie and find a new outfit for "Pattie" (Francie's favorite cabbage patch doll) from Jannie's attic stash of doll clothes. Then we made our way to Hoover Park in Palo Alto for our Tuesday playgroup... I was worn out by the time we got home at 5:30! Heff made us dinner and we had to wake up my equally tired little girl from her late nap to eat and play with Dad before crashing for the night.

The Doo ready to PLAY all day

"Mom did you know some highchairs have trays on them!"

Francie and Rose were good buddies sharing with each other

Francie worn out already from running around on the lawn

"pats" for her friend :)

Lena and cute Rose

Off to the park...

It's hard for these girls to continue their gossip on the playground when they have bananas and thumbs to distract them

Francie and Jasmine hold their own as the only girls of the day

Francie found a chicken helmet just like hers.

Very ambitious...

Smart girl stuck to the first rope to bounce :)

ISAAC! ready to be a big brother next month!

Rachel and Elijah in the sandbox

Weeeee!

When we got home and comfy in our PJ's Francie wanted to play hide-and-seek with dad... it actually wasn't easy to find her in this little hiding spot she found in her closet!!

"What took you so long Dad?"

Pattie and Sophie (the stuffed animal dog is also named Sophie) now like to hide here too. Francie knows a good spot when she sees one!

Mad, Mad Francie-Mad

Monday night after dinner Heff and I decided to go on a little walk around the neighborhood... we were all in the office most of the day and wanted a little fresh air and we ate way too much of Heff's fresh pasta for dinner! We bundled Francie up, even though it really wasn't all that cold out and Heff put her safety first headlamp on. She was happy as a clam until I started flashing right back at her with the camera. I'm hoping this phase passes but understand I have created this situation with my little project on the left-hand sidebar of this blog ;)

"Aw give me a break mom..."

(this is my secret camera-on-my-lap attempt to at least get her face in the shot...)

"Grrrr.... I'm REALLY mad now Mom."

"Maybe if I fake cry it will get you to stop?"

Diving into her stroller for a reprive

"YESSS! I got her to stop!" (a dark pic without the flash so she wouldn't notice... but this is her new favorite place to play when we are home, she pulls the book baskets out to climb up and plays ON the table or yells "BYEEEEE DAAAAAD!" in the mornings. And yes our Christmas lights are still up.)

Babies at The Sportsmans Expo

Francie and her dad had a date Sunday with Kevin and Baby Ryan to hit the Hunting and Fishing extravaganza at the Expo center in San Mateo. Francie couldn't wipe that cute smile off her face when she got to "hold" Baby Ryan-the-Lion on the couch... she was giving him kisses and patting his little tummy, he is so cute! The guys did a good job taking two little ones to the Expo center and lasting 4 hours. When they got home Francie told me all about the hunting doggies who jumped in the above ground pool and Baby "Ry-a" and when I asked her who else whet she shouted "KEV!" I asked Heff why he thought she was yelling Kevin's name?? He figured it was because Francie would run in every direction at the Expo so he was always yelling to Kevin to tell him where he was :) She keeps us laughing lately!

Kisses for Ryan-the-Lion

She was so excited to see another baby

Heff and "Kev!" with their babies off on their adventure

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Saturday night I gave Francie a bath... she was splashing and being a wild banshee in the tub so I took her out and told her if she was going to make a mess we were all done with the bath. I struggled to get her dried off, diaper on and PJ's on (with a onesie that snaps twelve ways from Sunday) while she kept saying "BAAF? Peeeease!!!" I kept telling her no to more bath and finally set the clean and clothed wild child down and said "Go show Dad you are all clean!" so I could pick up after the tornado of a mess she had left in her trail when all of the sudden I hear a huge SPLASH! Heff and I both ran into the bathroom to see Francie back in the tub (which I hadn't drained, I know bad mom) happily splashing around fully clothed. I think by the look on her face in the picture above she knew exactly what she was doing!

Little Banshee!

and more splashing... damage was done, might as well let her play.

Saturday we all got out in the 70 degree weather and had lunch with Anne, Sergey and their new baby downtown Menlo Park. Francie has a thing for babies... hopefully she won't lose the love in the next three months when her baby brother or sister arrives :) After lunch we hit Le Cirque for some shopping of course! Francie found some $300 cowboy boots she had to have but luckily Dad was there to knock some sense into her :)

We had my parents over for dinner Saturday night and Francie showed off her "I have Jannie wrapped around my finger" skills :) and Friday night we were half-way planning a date night out but decided to make dinner at home and be lazy instead... Francie was running around talking about "salts" (aka somersault) so she helped me pull all the pillows out in the living room to "hide" (her favorite past time lately) and do some of her newly learned gymnastics moves ;)

All these pillows and you roll around on the hardwood floor Francie?

Laying with doll-doll and refusing to look at the camera lens

She talked Dad into hiding with her in her under-the-crib-fort. Since I am way too lazy to actually get on my belly on the floor when we play, Heff had to inform me she has a whole little world set up under her crib with a robe spread out like a blanket and stuffed animals in the corners ;)

Where is Francie?... There she is!

Dad is a good sport :)

"See how cool it is under here mom!?"

Gymnastics

Today we had our first KinderGym gymnastics class at the Menlo Park Rec. It's a 'parent participation' class to run around on the foam blocks and trampolines with the babies, play with balls and hoops in the attached gym and tumble on the equipment in the gymnastics equipment. Francie loved it! She was squirming out of my arms from the upstairs area to get down on all the mats and took off running. She calls it "nast-as" and talked about bouncing on the trampoline and saying bye-bye to the "chute" all day... she has been entertaining us with all her new words and phrases, this morning Ollie was barking at a squirrel or something outside and she busts out with "NO BA-KING OW-WA!" We went to lunch with Dad at Jeffrey's after class and then spent some time re-organizing at the office before heading home to watch Landry's TV debut on "The Doctors"!

Francie didn't have any fun on the trampoline ;)

Daddy surprised us and walked over from work to join in on the fun!

Estelle is in the class with us too!

"What do I do with this hoop thing?"

Just pose for Mom Francie ;)

She looks like such a big girl in her "ninja outfit" as Dad called it (she had lots of pink accessories to go with it but we had to lose the Uggs, Jaknit sweater and bow to play)

Estelle getting ready for some indoor hockey with the big boys

and Dad helped Francie try to learn to throw a ball

Francie's friend Jasmine and her mom Parvin are in the class too

Parachute time!

Icie making waves for Estelle

Dad saves the Doo who didn't want to get off the parachute for the next activity

Francie stood completely still the whole time we were under the parachute singing wheels on the bus...

I think she is in shock.

"The wipers on the bus go swish-swish-swish" ;)

Anatomy of a somersault

Lifting a medicine ball that weigns half as much as she does

A perfect 10!

The Heffs all had fun at gymnastics class :)

"When are we coming back!?!"

Back in the Swing of Things

How is it already Thursday and I haven't blogged this week!? We took off running Monday after our two weeks of holidays and relaxing... and my camera has been on vacation for a few days :) It actually hasn't been all that busy so it's been a good week. Monday Francie and I went into work to take the Academic Trainers managers to a lunch meeting (Francie likes to put her 2 cents in over crayons and a hot dog at Stacks). We are really busy this time of year at Academic Trainers with all the test prep kids (entrance exams for private schools) but the girls have it under control and things are running smoothly.

Tuesday we had our playgroup at Anne and Linda's company 23andMe for a "mom" focus group on their product and some new stuff they are doing. We all sat in a conference room on bean bags while the kids played with some toys and tore up the place.

Then Wednesday Francie got to have an Emmy-date at Stanford Shopping Center with three other moms Emmy babysits for and their combined 8 kids! I went to meet my friend Anne for a walk and lunch (the first time out with her new baby!) and I got text updates from Em that Francie was having SO much fun with the big girls running around, throwing pennies in the fountain and eating Sprinkles cupcakes :) Jannie met them at the mall when Aunt Mimi and Claire came up to do some shopping too and Francie was spoiled with her second Sprinkles cupcake of the day! I picked her up at 6pm (too long to be away from my Francie-pants!) and she was a happy girl.

Francie loves her new pink Uggs Jannie and Grampa gave her for Christmas... she kinda looks like Big Foot here though (the genetic curse from both parents)

Hanging out with the big girls... thanks Emmy!

Then last night after I picked up Francie we went over to Adriana and Conor's house for a little playdate get together with Alexis and James and Christian. Conor was a good sport sharing all of his toys and James and Francie took turns pushing each other around in his car-car. Guess what Francie had for dessert? Cupcake number three!
(pictures from Adriana coming soon :)